1. Field of the Invention
The first continuation-in-part application, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an on-board, vehicle surveillance system, such as for a truck or an airplane for producing a secure, permanent record of criminal activity relating to the vehicle for evidentiary purposes, which may be transferred directly to an information center and/or the authorities via a transmission link, which is preferably a satellite up/link-down/link.
The second continuation-in-part application, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, is directed to an on-board, vehicle surveillance system having a remote information download and transfer device for downloading a secure, permanent record of criminal activity and/or accident evidence for evidentiary purposes.
The instant invention is broadly directed to tamper-proof data repository for retaining a database of information from an on-board, vehicle surveillance system and, more particularly, to a secure, integrated, indexed, database of recorded information which can be downloaded and transferred to a repository as a permanent record of criminal activity and/or accident evidence for evidentiary and/or actuarial purposes.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Our country is in the throws of a security crisis. Devices and methods for making our way of life more secure, without ultimately destroying our cherished right to privacy are being sought. Because of our constitution and its guarantee of freedoms, such security systems must preserve gathered evidence in a manner that its chain of title can be traced from gathering to the courtroom and beyond. Thus, unobtrusive surveillance, which preserves the integrity of the evidence gathered in a secure retrievable database, is needed.
The integrity of the database must be of a quality that judicial proceedings can proceed using the information contained therein while protecting its integrity from acts of terrorists and others that would seek to destroy such evidence to prevent prosecution or public censure. In our prior applications, the security of the database as an evidentiary source was disclosed in respect to a secure, vehicle mounted, surveillance system, which is an onboard video data system for recording incidences in which the vehicle is involved such as an automobile accident, truck jacking, plane hijacking or the like. The secure, vehicle mounted, incident recording system produced secure evidentiary data about incidents in and around a vehicle such as an aircraft cabin. With the advent of terrorism, the requirement for tamper proof secure data repositories to store evidence in the form of a database has increased.
In addition to judicial proceedings, insurance carriers are continually looking for ways to reduce losses as well as the cost associated with handling claims. In our prior applications, we addressed the losses associated with vehicular mishaps and vehicular vandalism and/or theft. Each year there are over 35 million on-the-road accidents in the United States alone. There are many other vehicles, including watercraft, aircraft and off-road vehicles, which also are involved in mishaps. These can vary from one vehicle to multi-vehicle incidents. These mishaps or accidents cause billions of dollars of property and personal injury damage every year. In most cases, one or more of the parties is at fault, and law enforcement officers, insurance adjusters, and the like are required to find credible witnesses to re-account the factual evidence so that culpability and liability may be accurately determined. Even in aircraft incidents, it is important for the insurer to know (or rule out) the cause of the accident.
Likewise, each year, theft and vandalism of vehicles account for losses that approach the magnitude of those resulting from accidents. These also are insured losses that must be handled by insurance carriers. In many cases, however, the loss either is caused by carelessness or is in fact an “inside job.” The insurance industry, which is responsible for investigation and replacement or coverage of the losses, spends millions of dollars investigating such activity, as well as billions of dollars in replacing or compensating policyholders for avoidable losses.
In both of the above scenarios, the recording, storage, and remote access of secure information relating to the events of an accident, theft or acts of terrorism which later can be used as reliable evidence, would be very beneficial in bringing terrorists to justice, stream lining accident and vehicle insurance claims to ensure that only valid claims are compensated, and in expediting the investigation of an accident or theft, providing accurate medical attention in the event of an accident, assisting in the apprehension of perpetrators, and locating and retrieving stolen vehicles and cargo.
With respect to the Secure, Vehicle Mounted, Incident Recording System, the ability to download and produce a database of the secure information, including transmitting this information to produce an off-site database at a permanent off-site location is particularly helpful in expediting insurance claims because the adjuster's presence at the scene of the accident is not required, nor would the adjuster be required to analyze the damaged vehicle in order to ascertain fault. Instead, the secure information downloaded from the Secure, Vehicle Mounted, Incident Recording System could be reviewed easily and quickly and a determination of fault could be made. Further, it would be helpful if the authorities, rescue workers, hospitals, and the like could download the information en route to an accident scene, or at the scene itself, in order to ascertain the extent of the damage, fault, the equipment required (i.e., tow truck, jaws of life, etc), and the extent and cause of any injuries.
With respect to the on-board, vehicle surveillance system, such as for a truck or an airplane, authorities could produce a secure, permanent database of criminal activity relating to the vehicle for evidentiary purposes which may be transferred directly to an information center and/or the authorities via a transmission link which is preferably a satellite up/link-down/link. The database would be secured by assuring limited “keyed” access only to authorized persons.
The advantages of this secure database in a repository are numerous. The repository will be a permanent storage site for very sensitive and important data. Namely vehicular accident video files and criminal incident video files relating to vehicles including terrorist activity. The sensitive nature of the data will require the system to be completely secured so as to provide unimpeachable evidence as to circumstances surrounding accidents and criminal incidents in order to stand up under scrutiny in a courtroom setting. Video files of traffic accidents and criminal incidents stored in this repository would be available to judges and juries and will provide an unimpeachable record of the events in question. In addition, this secure database would be available to provide statistical evidence for asserting and defending premium rates before state regulatory agencies.
In addition to securely storing this database, the system will be capable of quickly transferring this data to third parties in need of the information, such as insurance companies and law enforcement agencies via numerous data transmission techniques. Another utility of this repository will be scientific, video analysis of vehicular accidents from different angles, which will allow investigators to quickly and accurately determine the cause of an accident and important factors surrounding the circumstances of the accident. This will also allow vehicle manufacturers and traffic engineers to build safer vehicles and highways in the future, thereby mitigating accidents, reducing injuries and saving lives.
Therefore it would be advantageous to have a remote device that could securely access, remotely or on site, the database of information being generated and/or securely stored on the Secure, Vehicle Mounted Incident Recording System and/or the On-Board, Vehicle Mounted Surveillance System, download that information, and instantaneously transmit the information via a transceiver to authorities, rescue vehicles, hospitals, and/or to an off-site storage location while maintaining the integrity of the information in a secure, limited “keyed” access database for future use as criminal or civil evidence or for actuarial use. The transmission could be real time or delayed. Further, it would be advantageous to have a device that incorporated a video output interface to a display screen monitor such that a police officer, rescue unit, hospital, or the like could actually view the incident in order to provide better assistance. In addition, it would be advantageous to have a device that the video output display could download, transmit, and display information regarding certain physical phenomenon associated with a criminal act such as a hijacking or theft or a vehicular accident, such as vehicle dynamic information including position, speed and acceleration, as well as audio, and the like, that had been monitored and recorded by the recording system and could be utilized by police, hospitals, rescue workers, and the like in ascertaining certain information, such as the extent of any injuries, determination of fault in an accident, whether a crime is ongoing, and the proper equipment needed for a particular incident.